THE role of the Merino breed in the prime lamb industry is indisputable.

It is essential for the breeding of first-cross dams for the traditional prime-lamb cross, a program that has been part of the Australian farming landscape for as long as most can remember.

But, increasingly, the pure Merino lamb is finding its way directly on to the meat processing chains.

Some may say that it is a numbers game - processors simply need more lambs to kill and with a shrinking national flock, they have been forced to turn to whatever they can get, including Merinos.

Whatever the reason, the interesting fact is that the price gap between traditional first and second-cross lambs and Merinos is narrowing.

Autumn prices from the nation's biggest lamb processor, T&R Pastoral, had just a 30c/kg carcass weight gap between grain-finished or grain-assisted Merino lambs and first and second-cross lambs.

Its livestock manager for small stock, Paul Leonard, said the trend was now for more, secondary finished Merino lambs to come on to the market.

"The prices between Merinos and crossbred lambs are getting closer if the Merinos are grain fed or grain assisted," he said.

"There are a lot of good-quality Merino lambs, dressing out at 22-28kg, around.

"They are not in the class of crossbred lambs in terms of shape or quality but they are still good lambs."

Merino lambs are generally not sent into the high-end export markets, but are more than acceptable for many destinations.

Even if the Merino lambs were not fed grain, T&R discounted them by just 60c/kg less than the best crossbred lambs.

It is not so long ago that Merino lambs were barely making half that of their crossbred cousins.

Sure, numbers do play a part, but the consensus is that Merino producers are also getting smarter and more professional in the way they offer their lambs.

It is no longer acceptable, or savvy, to send in unfinished Merino lambs to the saleyards.

Instead, producers seem to want to finish their lambs at least to trade weights and sometimes even to heavier types, trying to snare some of the booming lamb prices.

Wagga Wagga and Bendigo saleyards are two places where volumes of Merino lambs come on to the market. And the trends in these centres is that the Merino lambs are getting heavier.

Figures from the National Livestock Reporting Service records of Wagga Wagga show that, for the first three months of last year, just 17 per cent of Merino lambs were sent in at 20kg carcass weight or heavier.

For the same three months of this year, that percentage had doubled to 34 per cent.

At Bendigo, the trend is similar. From January to March last year, just 13 per cent of Merino lambs weighed more than 20kg carcass weight. For the same period this year, it was 29 per cent.

Obviously the season has a lot to do with how producers can finish their Merino lambs. More feed and grass means more chance of getting weight on and selling at higher weights.

Lower grain prices also have a role. It's hard to justify putting $300 a tonne grain down the throats of animals, but at prices half this rate, the option becomes more viable.

But the trend for offering a more-finished Merino lamb is growing, and processors are starting to reap the rewards.